| About SWI | News | Resources | Programs | Education | Conservation | Primer | Contact Us |
|
Stone Wall News Archive- Updated January 19, 2006
Whitney Hall, University of Connecticut below Professor Thorson's office. The entries below are listed from most recent to oldest, in the reverse order they were posted. November 19, 2005: Letter to Members and Wall Enthusiasts November 18, 2005: The National Edition of today's New York Times is carrying a two-page spread in its Escapes section, consisting of of color photos and text by Gary Santionelli that follows the formula for stone wall travel laid out in Exploring Stone Walls. The author visits Stonington, CT and Newport and Little Compton RI, sleuthing out their histories along the way. This is a tremendous boost to stone wall travel that we hope will be noticed by the engine of the culture-tourism economy. November 18, 2005: This month's Newsletter of the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History reprints the epilogue of Exploring Stone Walls (courtesy of Walker & Co), which illustrates why walls are integral to landscape processes, physical, climatic, and ecological. It also highlights three walls in the state -- Farmington, West Hartford, and Mansfield Center. November 17, 2005: Professor Thorson just finished reviewing an upcoming book by photographer William Hubbell on New England Stone Walls that will soon be published. Watch for it. November 17, 2005: The SWI received an extraordinary document, the first of its kind known to the author. Mary Everett has produced A Preliminary Handbook for the Preservation of New England's Dry Stone Walls (WhyNaughtPress, 2005). It was her Master's Project for the Department of Landscape Architecure & Regional Planning at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst), directed by Professor Ethan Carr. You can contact Mary Everett by email. November 1, 2005: The brand new Encyclopedia of New England: The Culture and History of an American Region, carries an entry on stone walls by J. Ritchie Garrison (p. 56-57), which is an excellent, citable, one page scholarly source.Professor Thorson also has an entry there, the first-ever on geology. Its defining quote is "The Soul of New England perches on a rock." (p. 567-569). October 14, 2005: Just today we learned that Exploring Stone Walls: A Field Guide to New England's Stone Walls has sold out its first printing within the first six months. The second printing will be available October 31, 2005. October 14, 2005: The SWI now has two staff, thanks to student work study . They are organizing the mess that has built up over the years. If you wrote a letter and it's not answered...just wait. October 14, 2005: The SWI will soon begin a project with Connecticut College. There, they have mapped approximately 13 miles of stone walls in their protected Arboretum. Professor Thorson and volunteers will work with professors, staff, and students toinvestigate the pattern of stone walls on the landscape, the relationship to land use, and to the forest ecology. October 14: 2005: (repeat of June 3, 2005): The Shaker Barn Foundation seen on May 31 by Robert Thorson in Harvard, Massachusetts was so interesting, he just had to take a picture and post in on the web. October 14, 2005: The First Newsletter was sent out, thanks to Meghan. If you expected but did not get one, please use the contact page to reach us. June 27, 2005: A review of Exploring Stone Walls by Don McGiver. is posted. Don is an environmental planner for the Town of Concord, MA and a member of the Littleton Conservation Trust. He directs his review principally to others with a responsibility for managing the historic heritage landscape. Click here to read the review. June 24, 2005: SWI Coordinator Robert M. Thorson presented his last event of the spring season for the Naromi Land Trust in Sherman, Connecticut. Just for fun, you should know that Naromi is short for NAROMIYOCKNOWHUSUNKATANKSHUNK Brook, the namesake for the trust. June 1, 2005: Recently there was an NPR interview describing that the most famous stone wall in the world -- you guessed it, the Great Wall of China -- is being degraded and partially dismantled by localized development. May 25, 2005: Perhaps you've noticed. The SWI website is under a massive construction project to incorporate the new curricula for kids of all ages. . May 25, 2005: The stone wall learning center just had its first two visits by school age kids. The first was the Monetssori School of Greater Hartford who brought rocks for me to identify. April 6, 2005: Strip Mining: The Dark Side of the Stone Trade. This is my response to a letter soliciting the sale of interior stone walls. March 30, 2005: Posted a list of key terms used in stone wall science. For definitions, rever to the book, Exploring Stone Walls. March 30, 2005: I repaired the page Ten Great Walls. March 16, 2005: Posted link to Monterey Masonry, a high-end masonry business in Sheffield, MA,in which stonework is done with the utmost care and quality under the supervision of master mason, Mark Mendel. March 9, 2005: Change of address to Connecticut State Museum of Natural History finalized on the Menu link "contacts" above. Please send all stonewall email to stonewall.uconn.edu. Use the SWI phone number at 860-486-6198. The mailing address is Stone Wall Initiative, CSMNH, 2019 Hillside Road, Campus Box 1023, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-1023 February 29: The conservation commission from Tiverton Rhode Island allowed us to post their draft ordinance for stone wall preservation(.pdf) February 17: A complete hierarchical list of stone objects based on Domain, class, family, type, subtype, and variant is now attached. For an explanation of the list, refer to Chapter 9 of Exploring Stone Walls. Feburary 16: Overflow crowd at the UConn Co-op for the publication party for Exploring Stone Walls. Feburary 13 : Cover article in Northeast Magazine in The Hartford Courant. February 12 : We have started the process of posting photos sent to the SWI. They are sumbitted for a variety of reasons: to get help identifying a wall; to share with others; or to contribute a fine example. February 11 : A landscape lament for the loss of stone walls. Published by the Winter 2005 issue of Connecticut Woodlands, the magazine of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association. Read the Essay on Losing Stone Walls (.pdf) February 11 : Hundreds of correspondents have become members, simply by writing a letter. This is a sampler of correspondence, ranging from turtle migrations, stealing walls, regulating them, painting them with milk, contacting the government, and quoting someone special. February 11 : A new photographer is featured, as well as several internet sites from the appendix of Exploring Stone Walls are now posted. February 10 : We created a link to supplement to Exploring Stone Walls that includes three things: color versions of the most important walls; color versions of the maps used to identify stone wall provinces, and an addendum to the taxonomy for stone objects that are not walls. February 9: Letter to Members and Wall Enthusiasts February 9: Thorson posted a photo gallery of Ten Great Walls to accompany a February 13 feature story by the Hartford Courant. February 8: First published review of Exploring Stone Walls (that I am aware of). "It's only natural -- stone walling." by Steven Slosberg, The New London Day, Sunday, February 6, Region, Page D1. February 8: Physically, we moved the SWI to the Office of State Archaeology in the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History, Horsebarn Hill Campus. [read more] February 4: Exploring Stone Walls arrives in office. They look great! January 26: Publication of article in Connecticut Woodlands Magazine. January 15 2005: Link posted to keynote speech for Connecticut Science Educator’s Professional Development Day. [read more] Dec 31 : School Programs Dec 30 : Blogging Stone Walls Dec. 22 : Managing Stone Walls Dec. 22 : Mapping Stone Walls Dec 18 : Publication Party for Exploring Stone Walls November - Photo Essay of Stone Walls November - Making New Stone Look Old Stealing Stone Walls
|
